July 26, 2013

I posted a couple of days ago on Eric Burdon's cancellation of a gig in Israel. According to his management people they had "been receiving mounting pressure, including numerous threatening emails, daily" and said that "The last thing I intend do is put Eric in jeopardy.”

Well the hasbara machine had gone into overdrive with the Jewish Agency touting the notion that the BDS movement revolves around threatening behaviour.

In my post I mentioned that "I don't understand why these management people haven't published the threats or complained to the police." Now Electronic Intifada is making the same point but after some investigation:

The Electronic Intifada reached Elizabeth Freund, Burdon’s New York based press agent, by telephone this morning to ask about the nature of the threats and whether they had been reported to any law enforcement agency.

Freund told The Electronic Intifada she had no information and referred further inquiries to Burdon’s “management.” Freund said that she would forward The Electronic Intifada’s emailed inquiry to Burdon’s manager.

It's sad that Eric Burdon would rather have people believe that he didn't make a moral decision to boycott the last of colonial settler states but where's the evidence that he was threatened with anything other than a stain on his reputation?